What one credit buys
Every endpoint costs one credit per call, with exceptions that cost more (translation, summaries) or nothing (cache hits, failed calls). The full parameter list for each endpoint is in the API reference.
| Call | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Transcript of one video | 1 credit | Timestamped segments as JSON, any caption language the video has. SRT and VTT come from the MCP server and the free tools. |
| Translated transcript | 1 + 1 per 40 segments | The translation part is at least 2, so 3 minimum. A 10-minute video is usually 5–7 credits. |
| YouTube search, one page | 1 credit | Up to 50 results per page. |
| Channel videos, one page | 1 credit | Newest first, up to 200 per call. |
| Search inside a channel | 1 credit | YouTube's own in-channel ranking. |
| Playlist videos | 1 credit | The first page of the playlist, about 100 videos, in order. |
| Summary in the free summariser, signed in | 2 credits | The fetch plus the model tokens. There is no REST summary endpoint. |
| Repeat of a cached video | 0 | Same video, same language, within the cache window. |
| A call that fails on YouTube's side | 0 | Captions off, private, deleted, age-restricted: refunded automatically. |
| Health check | 0 | No key needed. |
If YouTube cannot give us the captions, you get the reason, a hint, and your credit back, in the same response. There is nothing to claim.
Which plan
Free is for finding out whether the API returns what you need. Twenty credits, every endpoint, no card.
Top-ups are for scripts, side projects and anything with uneven usage. Buy once, spend whenever; the credits do not expire. The 2,500-credit bundle at $10 covers a small channel end to end.
Production at $49 a month is for a product that calls the API every day: 25,000 credits a month. Top-ups stack on top if a month runs hot.
Enterprise is 1,000,000 credits for $249 a month. If you need more than that, or an invoice instead of card billing, email hello@transcriptapi.io.
Same prices whether you call the REST API, use the MCP server from Claude or Cursor, or run the free tools signed in. If you are coming from the YouTube Data API or a self-hosted scraper, the migration guide maps quota units to credits. For how we compare with other transcript APIs on price, see the comparison.
Pricing questions
What is one credit?
One billable API call. A transcript, one page of search results, one channel or playlist listing. Translation costs extra because it spends model tokens: one credit per 40 transcript segments on top of the fetch, at least two, so three in total at minimum.
Do credits expire?
No. Plan credits are added to your balance each billing month, and like top-ups they do not expire: the Production plan adds 25,000 each month. Top-ups stack on top of any plan, including Free.
What happens when a video has no captions?
You get a 404 with a plain-language reason, a hint, and retryable: false, and the credit is put back. The same for private, deleted and age-restricted videos. You only pay for transcripts you actually receive.
Is there a free tier?
Every account starts with 20 credits once, no card; they do not reset. That is enough to try every endpoint. Cached repeats and failed calls do not use them up.
Can I cancel the monthly plan?
Any time, through the link in your Paddle receipt email or by writing to hello@transcriptapi.io. Billing runs through Paddle, which handles VAT and invoices. Credits already on your balance stay there.
What does 25,000 credits get me in practice?
About 25,000 transcripts a month, or a mix: for example 5,000 channel listings and 20,000 transcripts. At the $49 plan that is under $0.002 per transcript. Enterprise is 1,000,000 credits for $249 a month; for more, email hello@transcriptapi.io.
Is the MCP server priced differently?
No. The MCP server and the free browser tools, when you are signed in, use the same credits at the same prices as the REST API. The one extra is the summariser, which costs 2 credits a summary. One key, one balance.
Get your 20 free credits. No card, and the key works on every endpoint right away.